


Miscalculation

by olgushka



Category: Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Blood and Injury, Burglary, Christmas, Established Relationship, M/M, Serious Injuries, TOPFL Christmas Challenge, Thief!Josh, Thief!Tyler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21941806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olgushka/pseuds/olgushka
Summary: Something goes wrong. Tyler gets shot.
Relationships: Brendon Urie/Dallon Weekes, Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Miscalculation

**Author's Note:**

> Can be read as a stand-alone but also as the second part of [**Access Denied**](http://www.archiveofourown.org/works/15315921).

The blood is everywhere. It soaks through Tyler’s shirt and his jacket and drips all over his fingers when he presses his hand against the wound trying to stop the bleeding. It’s harder to breathe with every step he takes and the quick blood-loss makes him feel light-headed.

His foot gets caught in the small hole in the road and he falls to his knees on the wet, cold ground. He dares to look down at his ruined clothes and his stomach is not able to hold its contents any longer. He pukes on the snow. It’s a mix of food and stomach acid and _blood_. He starts coughing violently and tears stream down his cheeks when a wave of pain shots through his abdomen.

„Tyler.” Josh says, trying to sound collected. Inside, he’s a mess. „We can’t stop now.”

„Josh-”

„Stand up. We need to go.”

„I c-can’t.”

„Tyler, we need to go.”

Josh pulls him to his feet despite Tyler’s protests and cries of pain. The red-haired man looks over his shoulder to make sure that no one follows them, throws Tyler’s arm around his neck and drags him down the road.

The Christmassy-looking neighborhood is deadly quiet, only one angry dog is barking in the distance but there’s no one in sight. Even if they need help, Josh is glad that no one has seen them. Two men walking down the street at two in the morning with one of them dying on his feet and the other carrying a handgun is not the usual sight.

Every car they pass is locked and Josh curses under his breath. There’s no time to pick locks now, he needs to get Tyler to a safe place and stop the bleeding.

Only a few meters further Tyler’s legs give out underneath him again, making Josh lose his grip on him.

Josh curses again but lets his partner’s body slowly drop to the ground. He puts the safety on and tucks his gun behind his belt. He takes off his scarf and after folding it a few times, he presses it against Tyler’s stomach. Then he takes a few deeper breaths and after regaining a little bit of feeling in his arms, he picks Tyler up and carries him bridal style.

The road is covered in ice and snow and Josh wobbles on his feet a couple of times but he doesn’t fall. The adrenaline helps him keep his balance.

Around the corner, just when his arms start to hurt, he stops in his tracks. There’s an old white Mazda parked on the curb and there’s definitely someone inside: a young man focused on tapping the screen of his phone. Josh knows it’s their only chance and he can’t let it go to waste. He acts before debating over the pros and cons of the situation.

Everything happens in the blink of an eye. He approaches the car and opens the passenger door in the back. He puts Tyler inside, climbs after him, slams the door shut and points his gun at the stranger’s head.

„Fuck! What the fuck!?” The guy yells, dropping his phone and raising his arms in surrender. „Dude, don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! Fuck!”

„Shut up and take us to the hospital.” Josh barks, waving his 9mm around.

The stranger dares to turn his head and take a quick look at both of them. He pales when he sees the amount of blood.

„Fuck! What the fuck is wrong with him!?”

„He’s been shot.”

„By you!?”

„Of course not!” Josh shouts. „But _you_ will be shot by _me_ in a minute if you don’t drive! Hands on the wheel!”

„Dude, this is a complete shithole!” The guy says in a panic, gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turn white. „The nearest hospital is more than half an hour away from here. In this weather, I can try to make it in an hour without landing in the ditch but I can’t promise that your friend will survive the trip.”

Josh lowers the gun and looks at the guy with a terrified expression on his face. Tyler coughs again and both men look down at him. His whole body convulses.

„Tyler.” Josh says and puts his hand on the younger man’s cheek. He strokes the skin under his eye with his thumb and hushes the injured man. „Hold on. You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine. Do you hear me? Please, hold on.”

„Josh...” Tyler wheezes and his eyelids drop.

„I’m here. I’m getting you help.” Josh strokes his hair and pushes his fringe aside. The overload of emotions makes him forget about the stranger in the driver seat. „Don’t go to sleep. Stay with me.”

„You were...” Tyler whispers and tries to smile. Josh takes his hand and squeezes his bloody knuckles. His eyes sting. „Josh... You were the best-”

„Stop it. You’re not going to die.” Josh shakes his head. „Do you hear me? You’re not dying on me now. You’re not allowed to die.”

„I’m tired.” Tyler says and closes his eyes.

„Tyler. Tyler! Please. A little bit longer- Tyler! Shit!” Josh gently shakes him but the other man remains limp in his arms. He’s still breathing but it sounds shallow and irregular. „You can’t leave me. Not now.” Josh whispers and swallows a sob. „Not _now_.”

Suddenly, the car starts and the voice from the front seat startles him and brings him back to reality.

„Hang on.” The stranger says, turning the car around with the screech of the tires. „I know where to go.”

„What- What are you doing!?” Josh shouts and reaches for his gun but it slips from his hand and lands somewhere under the seat when the car suddenly takes an unexpected turn to the left. „Where are you going!?”

„I know someone who can help him.”

„Who!?”

„My... My friend. He’s a doctor. He- He hates my guts but he can patch your friend up.” The stranger says, changing gears, making the car move faster and faster. „He can’t say no to a bleeding man.”

„If you’re trying to do something-” Josh grits his teeth. „If you’re trying to fool me and get the cops involved, I swear to God, I’ll kill you.”

„Chill, dude. Talking to the cops would be like suicide.” He mumbles under his breath. „And I am not suicidal.”

The ten-minute drive through the small town feels like an eternity. It seems like Tyler’s breathing slows down with every passing moment and Josh feels like he’s one second away from losing it inside the stranger’s car. Tyler is dying in his arms and he can do nothing but press a piece of cloth soaked in blood against his best friend’s abdomen and try to slow down the bleeding to the maximum.

When the car finally stops, Josh raises his head and looks around.

„We’re here. Don’t ask questions, don’t argue and... maybe, you know, don’t even try to talk.” The guy announces and climbs out of the car. Josh watches him through the windshield when he runs to the door of a small house and bangs at the door, simultaneously ringing a doorbell. Then, he runs back to the car and opens the passenger door in the back. „Do you need help getting him out?” He asks.

Josh looks at him in shock but then quickly nods his head and lets the stranger help him to get the unconscious Tyler out of the car.

The light in the room upstairs turns on and someone shows up in the window. The silhouette is gone as soon as it appeared but then the front door opens and a young man steps outside.

„Brendon, I fucking told you. I’ve had enough. I’m not gonna deal with you and your junkie friends ever again.” The man whisper-shouts from the threshold. There’s anger in his voice and Josh starts to wonder if coming here wasn’t a waste of time.

„They’re not my friends, I’ve met them twenty minutes ago! One of them has been shot, we need your help.”

„Brendon, get the fuck out of here.”

„Dallon, please. _Please_.” Brendon begs, taking a step closer. „I swear, I won’t come back here ever again after this but please, help this guy. You’re a doctor, for fuck’s sake, you can’t refuse to help him!”

There’s a moment of hesitation and silence but then Dallon mumbles something under his breath, takes a step back and opens the door wider. Brendon breathes out in relief. He turns to Josh and throws Tyler’s other arm over his shoulders.

„Alright, come on.” He says quietly.

„Are you sure-”

„This is the only option. It’s either this or a certain death of your friend.”

Josh has no answer to this. He agrees and they slowly drag Tyler inside. When they enter the hall, Dallon points to the stairs.

„Downstairs.”

„What?” Josh frowns. „To the basement!?”

„I said: downstairs!” Dallon shouts and throws Brendon a key. „I’ll be there in a minute. I need to get my things.”

„Listen to him, he knows what he’s doing.” Brendon whispers.

Carrying the unconscious man to the basement turns out to be more difficult than it seemed at first but with Brendon’s help, they successfully get to the bottom of the stairs without falling and breaking their necks. The basement is nothing much: it’s a very minimalistic room with walls covered in a faded wallpaper. There’s only an old couch, a small table and a wooden chair. Josh doesn’t dare to ask about the dried blood on the carpet.

They drop Tyler on the couch and make him lay on his back. His head lolls limply to the side and Josh drops to his knees on the floor.

„Tyler.” He says in a shaking voice. „Tyler, you gotta pull through. Do you hear me? Please, you gotta pull through.”

Dallon opens the door with a bang and throws two clean towels on the backrest of the couch. He puts a bowl of water on the floor, drops a small leather case next to it and takes out a pair of white latex gloves.

„Alright, get out.” He says, pointing to the door.

„I’m not leaving him-” Josh starts to protest but Brendon grabs him under his arm without a word and pulls the red-haired man to his feet. „I’m not-”

„Out. Both of you.”

„Come on, man. Josh... You’re Josh, right? Josh. Trust him.” Brendon says, pulling him away from the couch. „He needs to focus. We need to let him work. Let’s go upstairs.”

„But-” Josh chokes up and finally, tears start spilling out of his eyes. „Tyler-”

„He’ll be fine.”

„You can’t be sure of that.”

„No. But I’m sure that Dallon won’t let him die.”

„I’ll do my best but you need to leave.” Dallon says coldly, not even looking up. He starts cutting Tyler’s clothes for easier access to the wound. „Now.”

„Let’s go upstairs.” Brendon says again and this time, Josh allows him to lead them to the living room where he immediately starts pacing and then just can’t stop.

It wasn’t supposed to be like that. It was supposed to be another easy job, another well-known plan: get inside, take what they need, leave. Get out of town. Find another rich loser: get inside, take what they need, leave. Move again. They’ve never made a mistake before. They are careful. What have they done wrong?

„He was waiting. He had a hunting rifle. He sneaked behind us and fired when Tyler turned around.” Josh says when Brendon joins him in the middle of the room and hands him a glass of brown liquid. „He was waiting. How could he know?”

„I have no idea what you’re talking about but from the gun you threatened me with and the gunshot wound in your friend’s stomach, I can guess that you don’t really have an office job.” The other man says and gulps down the contents of his own glass. He makes a face and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

„Then why are you helping us?”

„I don’t know. Because you’re human beings?” Brendon shrugs. „So? Thieves? Burglars? Gangsters?”

„It’s not that simple.” Josh sighs, taking a sip of his drink. Coke and vodka. Probably more vodka than coke but that’s exactly what Josh needs right now.

„Working for someone?”

„You can say that. Why?”

„No reason. Just curious.” Brendon says. „Are you hurt?”

„No. Just a scratch here and there. I’ll be fine.”

„What happened to the guy that shot your friend?”

„He... got shot.”

„Is he dead?”

„Maybe.”

„Fuck.”

„Yeah. Fuck.” Josh admits and sits down on the sofa. He rubs his hands over his face. „It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

„Sometimes things just don’t go as we want them to go.”

Josh looks up.

„Aren’t you scared of me?”

„I was, at first. But now I think that if you wanted to kill me, you would do that earlier. You could have just shot me and steal my car. You didn’t.”

„I’ve never killed anyone.”

„Besides that one guy who shot your friend?” Brendon risks a question and Josh’s breath hitches in his throat: he just murdered a man. There must be something in the expression on his face that makes Brendon take a different approach. „Don’t worry. Self-defence, yeah? He tried to kill your friend. You were just protecting him. Self-defense.”

„Self-defence.” Josh repeats. Brendon’s words echo in his head: _he tried to kill your friend_. „If Tyler doesn’t make it... Oh, God. If he doesn’t make it-”

„Josh-”

„He told me so many times... So many times! _Josh, maybe we should stop doing this. We’ve had our fun._ I didn’t listen... Because I always want more! _One more time, Tyler. One more time and we’re done._ And I’ve never kept my promise! It’s my fault. What happened to him, it was my fault. We had a huge argument ten minutes before breaking in. He was right. We should have stopped when we still had a chance.”

„Look, blaming yourself won’t help. But when he gets back on his feet, you can do what he wanted you to do. You can leave this life behind and start over.” Brendon smiles comfortingly. „He’s important to you, isn’t he? How did you meet?”

Josh laughs at the memory.

„We tried to rob the same house at the same time.” He puts the empty glass on the coffee table. „The owner woke up. We... ran. Tyler sprained his ankle. I made him jump from the roof.”

Dallon shows up in the living room half an hour later, interrupting their conversation. He has a smudge of blood on the front of his t-shirt and a tired look on his face.

Josh stands up, expecting the worst.

„He’s alive.” It's the first thing that Dallon says after an agonizing moment of silence and Josh feels like he’s about to collapse. „I patched him up the best I could. I hooked him up to the IV with hypertonic saline that should increase his blood volume. He lost lots of it. The bullet missed his kidney, I don’t think there’s any damage to any important organs. There’s nothing more I can do at the moment. I’ll be checking up on him every few hours. If he won’t develop high fever and won’t start bleeding internally, he’ll be good to go. As soon as he wakes up, I want you out of my house. All of you.”

„Dallon-” Brendon starts but the other man points his finger at him.

„You especially.” He hisses.

Josh doesn’t pay attention to the rest of the conversation. He pushes past them and runs to the basement.

Tyler is still unconscious. There’s a blanket covering his body and an IV in his arm. Josh notices that Dallon hung the bag with saline on the nail on the wall as an alternative solution to the lack of the IV stand. It works. It pumps the medication into Tyler’s veins.

Josh takes a seat on the chair and hangs his head. He’s scared to touch him. He’s scared to breathe in his presence. He starts to pray.

Tyler sleeps the whole next two days. During these two days, Josh doesn’t leave the basement if he doesn’t have to. Brendon makes sure to always bring him food and something to drink. Dallon keeps his promise and checks up on Tyler every few hours. He even starts short conversations with Josh sometimes and laughs at Brendon’s bad jokes. It seems like the atmosphere between the two men has warmed up a little but Josh doesn’t pry. It’s not his business. 

Tyler’s eyelids start to twitch at six in the morning. He starts to move his fingers half an hour later and flexes his leg shortly after. Josh watches him carefully until Tyler opens his eyes and blinks a few times. 

„Hey.” Josh smiles and brushes off hair from Tyler’s forehead. „Welcome back.”

„Josh.” Tyler mouths, without making a sound.

„Yeah, sleepy-head. It’s me.”

„What happened?”

„You got shot.”

It takes a while before Tyler looks around the room and tries to figure out their current situation. He frowns at the unfamiliar place.

„Where are we?” He asks in a scratchy voice.

„At friend’s house.”

„We have a friend?”

„Apparently so. I’m gonna risk and say that maybe even two.” Josh chuckles. „How are you feeling?”

„Like I got shot.” Tyler sighs and tries to move a little. The grimace of pain shows on his face.

Josh covers Tyler’s hand with his own.

„I missed you. I thought I lost you.”

„You’d be fine without me.”

„No. I wouldn’t.” Josh shakes his head and his eyes become glassy again. „Don’t say that. I wouldn’t. You know I wouldn’t… and I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for being stubborn, I’m sorry for everything I said to you that evening.”

Tyler stares at him for a long moment.

„Come here.” He says and Josh moves from the floor and sits at the end of the couch. „No, no. Closer. Lie down with me.”

„I can’t, I don’t want to hurt you.”

„I said: come here. I almost died, you can’t say _no_ to me now.”

„Tyler.”

„Just cuddle to my good side.” Tyler groans. „Please.”

Josh hesitates but then climbs carefully between Tyler and the backrest of the couch. It’s a tight squeeze but somehow they make it work. Josh rests his head on the younger man’s shoulder.

„I was thinking... England.”

„What?” Tyler frowns.

„A small house, far from the city. By the seaside. Maybe in Sussex. We could get a dog.”

„Josh, _what_?”

„Retirement.” Josh says. „It’s time to retire.”

„No, wait. Look at me. Josh, look at me.”

Josh raises his head.

„I wanted more and more and _more_ and it almost killed you. I won’t allow this to happen again. You were right, maybe it’s time to find something else do to.”

„You want to give up after one stupid miscalculation?”

„This _stupid miscalculation_ could cost your life!” Josh shouts.

„Okay. Okay, calm down.” Tyler hushes and puts his hand on Josh’s wet cheek. „It’s okay. We’re okay. I’m okay.”

„You could have died.”

„But I didn’t.”

„I can’t lose you, Tyler.” Josh sobs while the other man plants a kiss on his forehead and runs his fingers through Josh’s red hair. „I can’t. You’re more important than money. You were right, we have enough. We don’t need more.”

A soft knock on the door makes them both look up. Dallon sneaks into the room and smiles genuinely for the first time since Josh met him.

„It’s good to see you awake.” He says, looking at Tyler. „I’m Dallon. I need to change your bandages.”

„He saved your life.” Josh says, climbing off the couch and quickly wiping off his tears.

„ _You_ saved his life. By bringing him here fast enough.”

„No, no, no. That would be my contribution.” Another voice says and soon enough, Brendon shows up in the room as well. He introduces himself to Tyler and assists Dallon, handing him clean gauzes. „Merry Christmas, by the way.”

„Christmas?” Tyler asks in confusion and hisses when Dallon starts cleaning the wound. 

„Yes, it’s a Christmas morning.” The doctor confirms. „And we’re about to make some food… The wound looks good. You can try to sit up but please, be careful with the stitches. I’ll be back in half an hour to help you walk upstairs if you guys want to join us for breakfast.” 

„Sure, thank you.” Josh smiles. When there’s only two of them in the room again, Josh joins Tyler on the couch. „I’m glad you’re okay.”

„Me too. I would never forgive you if you let me die before Christmas.” Tyler teases. „So... England, you said?”

„England.”

„By the sea?”

„By the sea.”

„And a dog?”

„Aha. Golden retriever.”

„Siberian husky.” Tyler argues.

„Golden retriever.”

„Two dogs, then.”

„ _Fine_.”


End file.
